meet the sponsors : Hearst Ranch

In our home, we seldom eat meat. On a normal day, our meals will more likely resemble a handful of side dishes full of seasonal vegetables, fruit, beans and grains rather than a centerpiece of animal. However there are exceptions, like when my father brings us his homemade wontons, or a premium cut to celebrate Father's day, when we eat out, and when we know that the meat we are eating has been raised the way it was supposed to. You know the pastoral images, green grass, sunshine rays, happy cows.

"Our cattle live a completely natural existence as foragers and grazers, the way they have lived for thousands of years. Grazing enhances a complex and balanced mosaic of native grasslands which in turn maintains vigor and distribution of these habitats, ensuring a sustainable food system. It keeps cattle on the range, fertilizes the land naturally, sustains a seasonal rhythm to the ranches and produces a remarkable meat whose flavor is the authentic taste of the American West."

Hearst Ranch has two ranches based in San Simeon and Cholame, California. They offer grass fed steaks, Iliamna Alaskan Wild Red Salmon, and Heritage American Bronze Turkeys, to name a few. They even sell their own sauces and oils, chipotle ketchup? yes please.

If the idea of cows having names and living quality lives seems a little Portlandia-ish to you, check out what Hearst has to say about the benefits of grass fed cattle.